"Oh, I don't mean I want to lean on the elephant," said her mother. "I just want to lean against the piazza post. This is the worst I ever heard of—Uncle Toby leaving us a menagerie!"
"'Tisn't quite as bad as that, though 'tis, almost," said Mrs. Watson. "There isn't an elephant, but there is an alligator."
"An alligator! Oh, that's great!" cried Ted. "Where is it?"
"This is terrible!" declared his mother.
"It's only a little alligator," explained the housekeeper. "He's real friendly, though his tail scratches when he rubs it against your hand as you feed him."
"Anything else?" asked Mr. Martin. "Please go on. We may as well hear the worst. It sounds like a circus that Uncle Toby kept in his house. What else, Mrs. Watson?"
"Well? that's about all, except some white rats and mice and the pigeons. Uncle Toby didn't get the snake he wanted."
"Let us be thankful for that," murmured Mrs. Martin, "though it is bad enough as it is."
"Bad?" cried Teddy. "I think it's jolly! Can't we go in and see Uncle Toby's pets?" he asked.